Snapshots Past, Now and Future
by CharlieWise
Summary: Episode tag to Squall. We decided that there was more to the episode then just TIVA jealousy. So PurpleJelloTIVA and I decided to write it. Burley hands some pictures to Ziva which will change the way she sees Tony.


**A/N: PurpleJelloTIVA and I felt more happened in Squall so we decided to write some missing scenes and add some thoughts to other. Sadly NCIS is not ours... **

Ziva and Burley were on their way to the mess hall after agreeing to meet Tony there once they had scoped out the ship for potential clues. They hadn't found much so she hoped Tony had better luck with the logs from the infirmary. They turned around the corner and Ziva felt her heart hit her stomach.

"Argh." Ziva let out a disgruntled noise. Tony was talking to a female petty officer, he was all smiles and Ziva could see he had turned on the charm.

"Can the man just stop ogling woman for one day? He is like a woman addict, urgh I cannot believe him." Ziva spoke in frustration, forgetting that Burley was stood right behind her.

Burley looked on in surprise as Ziva shook her head before heading over to the counter for something to eat. He followed her for a moment before looking back to Tony who'd noticed by now that Ziva had entered and was staring over at where Ziva stood. The prior charm he'd seen was gone and instead there was a look that was a combination of admiration and what he would definitely describe as lust.

'_okay so do not want to see that.' _Burley thought to himself as he walked after Ziva to get some lunch himself.

"Is there anything good to eat?" Burley asked Ziva as they walked past the small buffet lane in the corner of the mess.

"I am not sure, the sandwiches do not look that bad." Ziva answered, annoyance still evident in her tone.

Burley looked back over his shoulder to Tony. Tony kept stealing glances at him and Ziva while expertly keeping up polite conversation with the petty officer. Apparently he had perfected his ability to hold a conversation whilst paying most of his attention to Ziva. "You know, maybe you should give DiNozzo a break." Burley tried to reason with Ziva, but he only got a eye roll as an answer and he even thought he heard her say 'ugh men.' but he couldn't be sure of that. Burley figured it was Tony's fight to fight not his, so he let it rest for now.

-TIVA-

Tony had been trying to figure out what to say to Burley the whole drive to Norfolk. Traffic wasn't that bad and driving a 'light version' of how Ziva usually drove he got there in two and half hours. Considering that he spent this long pondering about what he was exactly going to say, he still felt unsure about broaching the topic with Stan. He just knew Ziva deserved to be protected and that Burley should not take advantage of her current emotional state.

She'd been through so much, there was no person that could understand what she was going through. She was so special and Burley probably didn't see that. He didn't see what she needed right now. That you had to focus on what she needed and wanted and put your own desires to the side. She deserved that, deserved to be cared for and deserved to be happy.

In the end Tony decided it was best to go for the most direct approach

"Look about Ziva. She's fragile right now. All I'm saying is travel lightly, she's going through a lot right now." Tony suddenly said in the middle of a different conversation he wasn't paying attention too.

"Ziva? Fragile?" Burley asked confused, the word fragile would not be a word he would have used to describe Ziva.

"She's been through a lot Stan." Tony said a little annoyed that he was not seeing it. How can he be interested in Ziva and not see in what kind of place she was in and how different she had been?

"DiNozzo, wait you got it all wrong." Burley says finally understanding where Tony was going with this conversation.

"I've seen you work it O.B. Mister innocent, don't get me wrong, you're a good guy but..." Tony said, wanting to tell him that he was a good guy but I've he was not willing to put in the work and be there for Ziva the way she needed than he was not the right guy for her.

"Tony I'm engaged, she's an officer on the USS Delarow, met about a year ago." Burley said cutting Tony off and taking out his phone to show a picture of his fiancé to Tony.

"Right." Tony says as Burley swipes to the picture of the two of them. _'He looks happy.' _Tony thinks to himself. _'just genuinely happy.' _

"She's completing her last tour then taking a gig at navy intel. Guess my agent afloat days are over huh." Burley says, a smile playing on his lips as he thinks about how his life is looking from now on.

"Good for you Stan." Tony said, feeling his shoulders relax knowing that Ziva was not going to be mistreated by Stan. He even felt a little cheerful at seeing Stan being happy with someone and if not a bit bit jealous at the idea.

"Yeah is going to be a whole new chapter for me." Burley says as he puts his phone away. "You should try it." Burley says jokingly, looking at Tony.

For a moment Tony sees a mental image of him coming home, a little boy running up to him to show him his soccer ball. Pulling on his arm to go play in the backyard. They pass through the hallway into the kitchen where Ziva is cooking dinner and extremely large belly that just makes him love her more every time he sees her. He lets go of his son's hand just for a second to give his wife a quick peck on the lips, asking if she is okay and only when she nods he runs after his son to start the fun!

"Maybe I will." He replies smiling at the thought, someday. He noticed petty officer Whyath coming around the corner and says loudly; "Petty Officer Whyath, NCIS, we want to talk to you." Tony says loudly. He looks as the expression of the petty officer's face chances just before he takes of to the left.

"Oh come on." Tony whispers before sighing and running together with Burley after the petty officer.

-TIVA-

Ziva hung up the phone, sighing as she stared towards the Israeli flag that somehow had found it's way to Tony's desk, his American flag currently resting in her penholder. No new news about Bodnar from her contact in MI6. She needed something to go on, something she could use to plan her revenge.

"Case closed I guess?" Burley asked and Ziva tore her vision away from the flag to look at Burley and smiled up at him.

"Yes, in time for you to get to your Skype date with your fiancé." Ziva said.

Burley nodded and took an envelope out of his back pocket. "I got something for you."

Ziva looked confused for a moment. "Why would you get me anything?" She said looking at the envelope he was holding out for her.

"For helping to close this case, so I can talk to my future wife." Burley said grinning at her before pushing the envelope more towards her.

"Thank you." Ziva said taking the envelope from him. He kept looking at her expectantly so she looked back at the envelope and opened it. She took out an picture of Tony, it was taking at the mess hall that first day of the case and Tony was looking towards something out of shot, longing evident in his eyes. "I'm sorry but I've seen this more then enough." Ziva said handing the picture and the envelope back to Burley. She did not understand why he would be giving this to her.

Burley however, did not accept the envelope or the picture back. "He was looking at you when this picture was taken." Burley said. Ziva's confused expression made Burley concerned that this may have not been his best idea. Not much he could do about that now.

"There is another picture." Burley said motioning to the envelope.

"Why are you giving this to me?" Ziva asked as she put the first picture down.

"Because DiNozzo is a good guy and you shouldn't be worried about him looking at other women, when you see how he looks in the second photo, the look he reserves just for you." Burley said shrugging his shoulders.

Before Ziva could react or take a look at the second picture Tony came strolling down the stairs. "Guys I'm going to get a drink with McGee, you two want to join?" He asked.

"Can't sorry, I've got a skype date to attend." Burley said patting Tony on the shoulder before looking at Ziva and nodding with his head towards the envelope she was still holding, before walking away.

"You in Ziva?" Tony asked smiling softly at her.

"Sorry, I've some reports to finish up, next time?" Ziva asked.

"Sure, in case you change your mind McGee and I will be at our usual place." Tony answered before collecting all his things.

"Okay, but I've a lot to do, so do not count on it." Ziva answered sitting back down behind her desk and opening a folder.

"You'll be missing out." Tony said grinning as he walked towards the elevator " You know how McGee gets after a few". Ziva waited for him to leave before opening the file she was keeping on Bodnar on her computer. She needed a breakthrough, and soon.

After an hour of reading over things she'd read twenty times already she decided she could use a break. This was extremely frustrating, having no leads and no new ideas. She leaned back in her chair and her eyes fell on the white envelope from Burley. Remembering that he said something about a second picture, she took it out and looked at it. It was another picture of Tony. He was looking at her with an expression she vaguely recognized. His eyes were soft and warm, a small smile featured on his face as he looked at her. She realized that maybe she just didn't notice it when he looked at her like this, she'd been so focused on work and Bodnar that she maybe hadn't been paying enough attention to her partner.

-TIVA-

"How is your dad doing?" Tony asked as he handed McGee his beer while sitting across from him.

"I'm not sure, he promised to call Sarah and my mom, that's something." McGee answered before taking a swig of his beer.

Tony nodded in response taking a sip from his own beer. "How are _you_ doing?" Tony asked.

McGee looked up at him, not sure if he wanted to share his emotions with Tony, he would find a way to turn it into a joke and at the moment he was not in the mood. "I'm fine Tony."

"You are starting to sound like Ziva, McLady." Tony responded quickly.

"Well did you ever think that maybe I don't want to talk to you about it." McGee said sighing, he was just tired and the idea of calling his mom and sister tomorrow to see if his dad had called He didn't know which one he preferred that his dad had called them or not.

"Why probie?." Tony asked and McGee raised his eyebrow at him.

"Look Tim, I get it if you don't wanna talk but I hate seeing you like this. You're all McGloomy, you know I'm here for yah if and when you need me."

"I know, it's just that I don't know. I have to talk to my Mom and Sarah after Dad has called them. I don't know if my dad is going to survive this. The doctors are saying it's unlikely." McGee answered not sure of what emotion he felt in in that moment.

"Well if your dad doesn't survive, what would you've wanted?" Tony asked sincerely

"A better relationship, to have made up for lost time." McGee answered pretending to be interested in the label on his beer bottle.

"If your dad fights through it all and lives, what would you want then." Tony asked and McGee realized what he was getting at. It were times like these that he understood why he put up with his annoying jokes and the unending stream of bad movie references.

"The same." McGee said.

"Well then you know what to do, whether you get two days or two years or two decennia." Tony responded raising his bottle for McGee.

"To the future?" He said and McGee nodded and clinked his bottle with Tony's

"To the future."

They spent the next half hour joking around about people in the bar and from work. McGee shook his head as he noticed that Tony had found a way to mention Ziva for the fifth time he decided that enough was enough.

"Speaking about the future, what are your future plans?" McGee asked and Tony looked up at him questioningly, the question itself having caught him off guard.

"Well you know me." Tony answered nonchalantly

"I do Tony, but you're changing so what do you want?" McGee pushed on. Tony was trying desperately to think of something witty to say or a movie reference he could use to deflect the situation, but to no avail.

"You want to settle down like Burley?" McGee said grinning into his beer.

"Well maybe, with the right woman I think I could. You know a real partner." Tony answered thinking about the images he had when Burley mentioned settling down while watching the beer swivel around in his bottle. Having a little boy running around and having a little girl on the way with...

"Ziva." McGee said.

Tony sighed. "Yeah, but you know she fragile right now and emotionally in a bad place."

"Excuse me, you think I'm fragile and unstable?" Tony froze as he heard Ziva's voice. Even though he could not see her he could hear the hurt and distrust in her voice. He mentally went back over what he said, how much had she heard?

Ziva looks as he slowly turns around. How could he say something like this? After seeing that second picture of him, she began to doubt what she was doing going after Bodnar, alone, but now. Hearing him say that she wasn't a real partner. The moment their eyes locked Ziva spun around and headed towards the exit. Blinking away her tears, had she learned nothing from her life, men could not be trusted.

Tony looked on as Ziva walked away from him, he rubbed his face with his hand and turned to look at McGee. "What the hell are you waiting for, go after her." McGee announced his hand gesturing towards the door. That was the mental slap Tony needed to get out of his current daze, he jumped up and went after her.

He found her outside, trying to hail a cab. He thanked his lucky stars that none were in sight. "Ziva wait, I can explain."

Ziva turns around fiercly and Tony can see that the hurt he had registered moments ago had turned into raw anger. "What is there to explain." Ziva spat out. "My so called partner doesn't trust me, he thinks I'm weak and fragile."

Tony took a step back. He'd rarely seen Ziva this angry, he could count on one hand how often he'd seen her this fired up. One was just after he killed Rivkin and to get her to forgive him had taken a lot more then he was willing to put both of them through again.

"Tony if you did not trust me, why didn't you come to me, instead of saying this to McGee behind my back. How dare you!" Ziva almost screamed at him, knowing how much of her secrets he knew and she was scared for the first time in her life that they weren't safe with him anymore or maybe they had never been.

"Ziva you just walked into the conversation, you took it completely out of context." Tony tried to reason with her.

"Oh really Tony, then how about you put it into context." Ziva said crossing her arms and raising her eyebrow. If looks could kill Tony would be lying on the floor right now. He looked at her, frozen. The context...

"I'm waiting Tony."

Tony felt a million emotions fly through him, how could he explain the context to her. How could he tell her what he was talking about. He was just trying to explain to McGee that he wanted to be with Ziva but that now wasn't the right time. So how could he tell her at the wrong time that he was there for her, that he would do anything for her, that he loved her. He'd been so careful and respectful towards her wants and needs. So that he wouldn't chase her away, so that she felt safe. He didn't push it, he decided to wait for her.

"See Tony, there was no other context." Ziva said. Shaking her head, her anger having made some room for disappointment.

Tony looked at her, it finally dawned on him, that maybe he wasn't just waiting for her. Was he ready? Could it really be wrong if they were both committed to it. If she wasn't ready yet and he was, he could fight for the both of them until she was. Ziva was about to turn around to hail the cab that came from around the corner but he reached out and grabbed her arm.

Ziva twisted her arm around to get out of his grip before giving him a hard shove. Tony's looks at her this time and it was his turn to feel surprise and hurt. Was she really going to revert back to that, how could this have gotten so out of hand. Before this they were in a good place.

"Ziva please let me explain. I was talking to McGee about his dad and..."

"Tony this is not about McGee or his Dad." Ziva said, her anger and disappointment boiling up, her hurt and confusement pushing to the surface, she had never felt so alone.

"No I know, just hear me out. We were talking about what he would want with his dad in the future. Then we started talking about what I would want in the future." Tony said taking a first step closer after her shove, taking it as a good sign when she didn't step back, or push him away again.

He was ready.

"He asked me if maybe I wanted to settle down. So I wanted to tell him, that maybe I did, you know something permanent, somebody to go home too, a real partner, in life. Then he said your name, but I needed him and now you to understand that I do want to be with you, but now is not the right time. You're still trying to find peace after your fathers death, I know you're looking for Bodnar and hiding it. I knew, I know that we have to wait for you to get through that, before you can focus on us, the new us. Or then it'll be the new new us." Tony responded. The moment he started saying it, it just all came out.

"I'm here for you Ziva, in whatever way you need me. I'll have your back, like I know you'll have mine. I don't want to start this and then screw it up before it really had a chance to become something." He says and Ziva looks at him, his eyes turn to that soft and warm colour again. A small smile appears on his face and Ziva recognizes it for what it is. Love.

She doesn't know what to say. He's right, now is not the right time and that hurts her more then anything else ever had before. A lone tear falls down her before she pulls him close and buries her head in his shoulder. His arms come around her and he pulls her close.

**A/N: Please tell us what you think! We answer all reviews and love to chat about everything that is part of NCIS! **


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